By Julie Liddell Whitehead
On August 27, 2023, my church had been doing a fundraising campaign challenge. And as clear as day, before the sermon started on the day we were to make our pledges, I heard God telling me to say that I would give my first book advance to the church.
Context: I have been a writer all my life, professionally since 2000. I had spent the past year sending a collection of short stories, titled “Hurricane Baby,” to 69 small-press publishers. I didn’t have a literary agent; it was just me, my book, and a long-held dream. I only had two publishers left on my list. Then I was going to quit writing for good. No more wasting time on dreams.
Very rarely had God spoken to me directly like this. But I wrestled with this word throughout the service. Was I trying to manipulate God into doing something that wasn’t in His will for me? Was I selfishly asking Him to bless my efforts at publication but dressing it up in religious language? In the end, I just obeyed by writing what God said onto the card and dropping it into the offering box.
On September 10, 2023, we came back from Sunday school, and I saw an email on my phone from Madville Publishing of Lake Dallas, Texas. I had sent my manuscript to them on August 15, and they said it would be a few weeks before I heard back from them.
I was bracing for a rejection.
Instead, Kimberly Davis, the publisher, told me the press loved the book and wanted to publish it in August 2024, and she told me the terms of their standard contract.
I sat there stunned until my husband, Bob, walked by. I said, “I sold Hurricane Baby.” I told Bob the story of the pledge card. I wrote my pastor to tell him the story and that I’d be giving the first earnings check since I did not get an advance. He emailed back, “When the Lord led the Israelites into the Promised Land, He specifically told them to dedicate the city of Jericho to Him. … Their obedience to giving Him the first ‘proceeds’ of the land opened the door to Him giving them the blessings from the rest of the Land.”
“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.” – Psalm 20:4, NIV
Happy reading, everyone!
Julie Liddell Whitehead lives and writes from Mississippi. An award-winning freelance writer, Julie has covered disasters from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina. She writes on mental health, mental health education, and mental health advocacy. She has a bachelor’s degree in communication with a journalism emphasis, and a master’s degree in English, both from Mississippi State University. In August 2021, she completed her MFA from Mississippi University for Women. Meet Julie at her signing at Lemuria Books in Jackson on August 24, and purchase “Hurricane Baby” at MadvillePublishing.com.